[randomafrican]

While i agree on the relatively poor part, i'm not so sure about this:

>>Plus, poverty stifles political activism.

It's very likely that the goalfor the Chinese government is to avoid being overthrown by keeping control on how much and how fast the citizen get richer. Keeping them relatively poor guarantees that investments in future growth and future employment keep up rather than turning too soon into a more mature economy that keeps up with domestic demand.

And there's some kind of political argument about equality and history that i would make if only i could manage to sort it out in my head first.